


Observations

by orphan_account



Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-12 03:45:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1181491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The progress of Ahiru and Fakir’s relationship hasn’t gone unnoticed by Charon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Observations

Charon wiped his forehead and sighed. Another long day over - longer than he’d realized, even, for a quick glance at the clock revealed that it was later than he’d intended to work today. Fakir had probably gotten dinner going already, and while he knew his son didn’t resent having to do that on the nights he worked late at the forge, he couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. He had enough on his plate, after all, with class and ballet and writing, and even a girlfriend now. He was still a bit amazed that that last one had happened at all, but at the same time it wasn’t _that_ surprising, considering who it was Fakir was with.

He straightened up his workbench as best he could and then headed into the house and towards the kitchen. As he walked down the hall he heard Ahiru giggle, followed by the quieter, deeper sound of Fakir’s laughter. That in itself was surprising: Fakir was happier these days, it was true, but it was still rare for Charon to hear him laugh. He supposed it happened more often around her, though. But the bigger surprise was yet to come, and happened as he drew near enough to the partly open door to see what was happening. Ahiru was standing by the table, and Fakir was behind her with his arms around her. That Ahiru was smiling wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but Fakir’s expression was something that, Charon suspected, he didn’t let anyone else but her see. He was gazing down at her with a look on his face that was positively adoring, and it just might have been the happiest Charon had ever seen him. The love between them was palpable, and they were in their own little world by the looks of things, as if nothing else mattered but each other.

The spell shattered for them when he walked into the room, though, and they all but sprang apart, fumbling for words and speaking in louder voices than was necessary as they told him that dinner had been started - as if he couldn’t tell by the sight and smell of something simmering away on the stove - and what it was. They were both beet red, and Fakir was glowering, as if that would help him salvage his composure and mask his embarrassment at having been caught embracing his girlfriend in the kitchen. Not only that, but he’d just bent and kissed Ahiru’s cheek when the door swung the rest of the way open; it was no wonder they were so flustered. It was tempting to tease them, but Charon opted to pretend he hadn’t seen anything, and put on his “oblivious father” act. It was, he knew, the surest way to get them to relax when they were in this state. It’d still take a while, but it would go more smoothly than it would if he’d acknowledged what he’d walked in on (which hadn’t even been anything bad, really, unless you were a pair of shy, awkward teenagers who blushed so often around each other it was a wonder their cheeks weren’t permanently pink by now). And if he also pretended that he wasn’t paying attention to them as they moved around the kitchen finishing the dinner preparations, he’d see them do things like steal glances at each other, or exchange little smiles, even deliberately brush hands. All of which warmed his heart.

His memories of the old days - as he referred to the time before these two had ended Drosselmeyer’s story and sent Mytho back into his book - were still a bit hazy sometimes, like someone had laid a thin film over a photograph, due to the fact that his connection with the events had been less prominent than theirs. His memory was leagues more intact than that of most people in Gold Crown, however, and one of the things he most clearly remembered was how desperately unhappy and _lost_ Fakir had been during all those years before he met Ahiru. He’d begun to gradually change after coming into contact with her, though, especially when she’d become a fixture in his life. The first time she’d come to the house Charon had wondered at it, baffled that his quiet, standoffish son who normally avoided most social interaction like the plague would willingly be in the company of a bright, bubbly girl like her. Seeing them together, however, had dispelled all doubts: Fakir was more relaxed around her, less guarded and more likely to let a smile slip out from time to time, and though he didn’t talk even half as much as she did, it was clear that he enjoyed her company and that she, in turn, liked being around him too. As time went on he’d begun to suspect that the two were nursing crushes on each other, though Ahiru didn’t seem aware of it. Uzura - and ah, how much he missed her, much to his initial surprise - had frequently insisted that they were “lovey-dovey zura”; Fakir had always gotten flustered and vehemently denied it, which did nothing to dispel Charon’s suspicions.

And then one day - after a long night that he had had only a vague and fuzzy recollection of even _before_ the control over the town had been broken - Fakir had come home with an injured hand and a battered little duckling in his arms. He’d been exhausted almost to the point of collapse, both physically and emotionally, but nevertheless had stayed up for a little while to explain the basics of the situation, saving the rest for after he’d slept. The gist of it was that the story they’d been living in was over, Mytho had gone back inside the book, and the hurt duckling he carried as though she was more precious to him than anyone or anything else was the girl he’d been hanging around lately, and also Princess Tutu, and the injury to his hand had been self-inflicted in order to save her life at one point. Charon remembered his own encounter with Princess Tutu, and the revelation that the chirpy little Ahiru who’d been visiting so often was the same person was almost more of a surprise than learning that she was really a duck. Fakir explained as he stroked her small head (she’d fallen asleep in his arms again as the story was told), that she’d be living there with them now, that he’d made a promise to stay by her side forever and intended to keep it. It had been easy to tell what he really felt for her just by looking into his eyes, but Charon hadn’t pressed the issue, knowing instinctively that it wasn’t something Fakir would want to talk about; instead he’d simply nodded and told him he understood, and that he would do whatever he could to help Ahiru settle into her new life in their house. That, he could tell also, had meant a lot to Fakir, more than he’d been able to verbally express.

They’d settled into a quiet, mundane life then; without all the excitement and turmoil that the movement of the story had brought with it, it was easy to settle into comfortable routines that weren’t disrupted with things like wandering heart shards and attacks from the Raven. Fakir continued attending school and writing, and Ahiru was there to enthusiastically greet him when he got home. Life soon became so normal that it was almost boring… but then one day Ahiru reappeared in human form, no longer a duck. It was no accident - she and Fakir had agreed that he should try to turn her back into a human girl, because it was what she wanted and it didn’t go against what they’d resolved to do to end the story, and after much careful work and effort he’d succeeded in writing her back to what she’d once been, but permanently this time, without the need for a pendant to keep her that way. This required another adjustment period, but one that was much happier than the last. Ahiru was overjoyed to be a human girl again, and though Fakir still wasn’t the most expressive person about such things it was clear to Charon that he was happy for her too. As for himself, he found it easy to accept Ahiru into his home and also into his heart, and she swiftly became the daughter he’d never had. He remembered well what a sweet and caring person she was, and he owed her much not only for freeing him from that heart shard, but for bringing happiness and friendship into Fakir’s life, so it wasn’t difficult at all to welcome her presence.

Things settled down again soon enough, and they were quickly ensconced in new routines. Fakir and Ahiru attended school together, and resumed the close friendship they’d had back in the old days, seemingly even stronger now for the time she’d spent as a duck, with the problems that presented in communication having only made them work harder to understand one another. Remembering his suspicions from back then, as well as the emotion he’d seen in Fakir’s eyes when he talked about his promise to Ahiru, he’d carefully and discreetly watched the two of them. And so it really wasn’t much of a surprise at all when they confessed that they were now together as a couple, that they loved each other. Charon had smiled and wished them the best, and he’d meant it. They both deserved happiness, and he was elated to see them find it with each other - Fakir because of how miserable he’d been for so long, and how he’d believed it was his fate to die young like the knight in the story, and Ahiru because of how kind she was and how much she’d done and been through for everyone’s sakes without receiving any real thanks from anyone save the few who knew of her heroism, and also once burdened with a fate to die before her time. They’d both lived, however, something that all three of them were glad for, and found new purpose and contentment through writing and dancing, respectively, as well as a deep love with each other. It was plain to see how much joy they brought one another.

Truly, he thought, as he watched them take each other’s hands under the table from his vantage point at the stove, he couldn’t ask for anything more for either of his adopted children.


End file.
